artsy forager

Author: Lesley

  • Imaginings Of Memory: Shannon Richardson

    Imaginings Of Memory: Shannon Richardson

    I am a lover of stories.  Ever since I was a little girl, cuddled in my grandmother’s arms, listening to her read me story after story, I adore being drawn into another world, wondering what will happen next.  Whether in novels, the spoken word, song or artwork, I adore anything ( and anyone!  My hubby George is a wonderful storyteller ) with a tale to tell.

    So when I came across the work of painter Shannon Richardson at the RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, OR, I was drawn in by their narrative quality.  Each painting feels like the viewer is walking into the midst of a story.

    Traveling Companions by Shannon Richardson
    Traveling Companions, oil on canvas, 24×24

    These are illustrations of stories, but not completely fictional ones.  What Richardson paints, is memories of illusions of her own memories.  Not always as they actually occurred, but how they live in her mind, heart and dreams.

    Wedding Belles by Shannon Richardson
    Wedding Belles, oil on canvas, 24×18

    In these visual narratives, Richardson creates a fantastical world that is at once familiar and foreign.  Dream-like visages filled with other worldly characters and landscapes, but the feelings surrounding the imagery are universal– hopefulness and helplessness, elation and despair.

    The Casual Departure by Shannon Richardson
    The Casual Departure, oil on canvas, 18×24

    Each image is a fable to which we can relate, not because of our experience of the fantastical creatures or dreamlike quality, but because we have all been in situations of betrayal, soaring happiness, quiet contentment and such.  We all have our memories of the heart in common.

    Time for Togetherness by Shannon Richardson
    Time for Togetherness, oil on canvas, 36×48

    To see more of Shannon Richardson’s work, please visit her website.  In addition to RiverSea Gallery, you can also see her work in person at The Churchill Gallery in Newburyport, MA and The Joanne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA.

    The featured image is The Companionship of Memories.

    All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Friday Faves: The Aerialists

    Friday Faves: The Aerialists

    The world as seen from high above is such a simple, orderly place.  I still remember the first time I looked out an airplane window and saw the neatly composed patterns of farmland down below.  And the rows of surburban homes lined up like so many monopoly houses on cul-de-sacs.  The snaking lines of rivers and mountain ranges.

    This Friday’s round-up is full of images from artists who also find inspiration in the what can be seen from the sky.  Hope you enjoy the view!

    The Cummer Museum by Christina Foard
    Farmland Aerial by Wm. Coleman Mills
    Farmland Aerial by Wm. Coleman Mills
    Aerial View by Sally King Benedict
    Portage Bay by Suzanne DeCuir

    1.  Christina Foard ( featured image is CSX Storage by Christina Foard )

    2.  Wm. Coleman Mills

    3.  Sally King Benedict

    4.  Suzanne DeCuir

    All images are courtesy of the artist’s websites.

  • Ambiguous Incarnations Of The Other Worldly Kind: Anne Goodrich

    Ambiguous Incarnations Of The Other Worldly Kind: Anne Goodrich

    I love it when an artist’s work causes me to do a double take.  When I spotted the ceramic sculptures of Anne Goodrich amongst the work at Guardino Gallery in Portland, I almost passed them by.  From afar, they just seemed like botanical ceramics, which would likely just have elicited a “nice” from me.  But upon closer inspection, I saw that these were something more.

    Wall 10

    These beautifully formed ceramics, in their soft pastels and rich earth tones play a delightful little trick on the mind.  At first glance, you may think you know what you’re seeing– Oh, pretty seashell, no wait, flower, no wait, gourd.. snail?  alien?  What is it?!

    7A

    It is in the ambiguity that Goodrich’s work finds its simple, sweet power.  We aren’t sure exactly what these forms are, but even still, they speak to us.  They are achingly familiar, like the face of a stranger who reminds us of a long lost friend.

    Wall 4

    They may remind us of forms that exist inside our own bodies.  Or of organisms surrounding us, both seen and unseen.

    Nest 1 by Anne Goodrich

    Whatever they are, I want to bring one home, give it a name, let it speak to me and discover its mysteries.

    To see more of Anne Goodrich’s work, please visit her website.  If you’re lucky enough to be in or near Portland, OR, you can see her work in person at Guardino Gallery in the Alberta Arts District.

  • The Neo-Luminist’s Vision: Steven DaLuz

    The Neo-Luminist’s Vision: Steven DaLuz

    The mixed media work of artist Steven DaLuz glows with an ethereal luminosity.  His atmospheric work explores the use of light to create ambience, whether it is a hazy and serene or deeply dramatic.

    Threshold, mixed media on panel, 48×60

    The self-described “Neo-Luminst” is creating work that is “concerned with the glowing effects of light”.  Instead of creating work with an inherent message or narrative, DaLuz instead prefers to let the emotionality of the light and color in his work allow the viewer to draw on their own perception and experience to invoke meaning.  Or to simply allow the imagery to speak for itself.

    Opus 110, oil on metal leaf on birch, 48×48

    For me, these seem to be rare glimpses into another world.  These are transcendent, the light, texture and composition all joining together to transport the viewer into a world that may or may not exist within our realm of experience.

    Ovum 2, oil and mixed media on panel, 36×36 

    What one viewer may see as delicate and heavenly, another may view as foreboding and alien.  Or, like me, you may be drawn to the richness of color and elegance of the composition, which is enough to spark my own imagination.

    Portal, oil and mixed media on panel, 36×48

    To see more of this artist’s work, please visit his website or stop by his Facebook page.

    Featured image is Cloud Bank by Steven DaLuz.  All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Resplendent Enigmas: Brad Kunkle

    Resplendent Enigmas: Brad Kunkle

    A man gives many question marks, however, a woman is a whole mystery.  ~Diana Stürm

    Artist Brad Kunkle is a creator of feminine mysteries.  Haunting, glistening visual fairy tales which are at once throwbacks to the past and yet thoroughly modern.

    Candela, oil and silver leaf on wood, 33×32

    His work takes inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelite era, as evidenced by the medieval-feel of the compositions, near photographic precision and intricate surface detail.

    The Quickening, oil and gold and silver on linen, 44×22

    But don’t be mistaken, Kunkle’s figures and compositions are not antiquated, but rather fresh and current.  The paintings are like pages of out a Vogue magazine fairy tale– and I mean that in the best possible way.  These aren’t helpless ingenues, but contemporary women caught up in circumstance.

    Afela’s Nature by Brad Kunkle, oil and gold and silver on linen, 16×14
    The Arrangement, oil and silver leaf on linen, 34×18

    These are the modern daughters of Eve, tempted and tempting, the subject of desire and blame.  Filled with sensual strength tinged with sadness.  Kunkle tells the story of their past by placing them in classical compositions and poses, but the elegant background treatments and inherent edginess keep them firmly on current ground.

    The Source, oil and gold and silver on linen, 26×18

    To see more of Brad Kunkle’s work, please visit his website.  If you’re in the New York area, his work is represented by Arcadia Gallery, where he will exhibit a solo show in Spring 2012.

    Featured image is “Girl With Serpent and Pearls”, oil and gold and silver on linen, 25×30.

    All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Soulful Accoutrements: Gabriel Fernandez

    Soulful Accoutrements: Gabriel Fernandez

    I’m a sucker for furniture.  I love the mixture of function and design.  And paintings of furniture?  Well, those hold a special place for me as I went through my own “chair” phase while I was studying painting in college.  So when I spotted the work of Gabriel Fernandez at Guardino Gallery in Portland this weekend, he had me at hello.

    Eichler Book on Table, oil on canvas, 24×36

    Fernandez creates scenes using furniture as another artist might use human models.  He sets the stage to tell a story, of a moment that just happened or is about to occur.  His compositions focus on the beauty of the objects themselves, the lives that they have led.. maybe an interesting life in a public place or a spiritless existence in a warehouse.

    Orange Chair In Front of Radiator, oil on canvas, 25×21

    The artist seems to be exploring the relationship of the objects to their environment, as an important player in a larger scene.  His use of light and shadow create a sense of emotion and mood, keeping the images from becoming mere still lifes, but instead imbuing them with a sense of story.

    Coos Bay Laundromat, oil on wood, 14×19.25Green Chair With Three Suitcases, oil on canvas, 20×22 Green Chair With Three Suitcases, oil on canvas, 20×22

    These are objects with soul, with personality, experience.  A past, a present and a future.

    Green Chair With Three Suitcases, oil on canvas, 20×22

    To see more of Gabriel Fernandez’s work, visit his website.  Or, if you’re lucky enough to be in or near Portland, OR, drop by the Guardino Gallery in the Alberta Arts District.

    All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Coming in September!!

    Featuring posts on fashion-designer artists, jewelry artists, artists with style for miles, fashion inspired art, art inspired fashion and much more!

    Be runway dressed and ready to brave the paparazzi for Artsy Forager’s very own artsyFashion Week!

  • Friday Faves: Map It Out

    Friday Faves: Map It Out

    My husband and I look at a lot of maps.  For the next several years, we’re moving to a new locale every three months, plus we spend weekends exploring the areas surrounding wherever we happen to be living.  Oh, and there are also all the future travel plans.  Like maybe a stint in Thailand in 2013.  ( I KNOW!.. so exciting!! ).  We use whatever maps we can get our hands on.. Google maps online at home, GPS in the car and of course, our good ol’ reliable atlas.  Currently, we’re pouring over maps as we anxiously await the locale of G’s next work assignment.  A month from now I will be typing the Friday Faves from a whole new setting, crazy isn’t it?!

    Turns out we aren’t the only ones inspired by maps.  Check out some of my favorite artists who incorporate these geographic illustrations into their own artwork.  Happy travels!

     

    Richardson by Rachel Ann Austin
    Richardson, mixed media, 5×5
    Navigate ( detail ) by Amy Rice
    Drifter’s Atlas No. 2 by Dolan Geiman
    Fear Hope Oblivion by Francesca Berrini
    A Good Mess by Wyanne Thompson

    How about it, Artsies?  Anyone mapping out adventures for the weekend?  Have a maptastic artist to share?  Do tell!

    1.  Rachel Ann Austin

    2.  Amy Rice  ( Featured image is Tandem by Amy Rice )

    3.  Dolan Geiman

    4.  Francesca Berrini, more of her map artwork can be found at G. Gibson Gallery, here.

    5.  Wyanne Thompson

  • Delicate Awakenings: Marsha Boston

    Delicate Awakenings: Marsha Boston

    Normally, I love thick paintings.  Canvases piled high with mounds of paint and lots of gooey and delicious texture.  But there is a fluidity in abstract watercolors that I find just as appealing.  Watercolorist Marsha Boston imbues her work with such a lovely sense of light and tranquil color, they feel like looking at the world from under a blanket of warm water as the sun shines above.

    Saucer Magnolia, watercolor and ink

    Her botanical work focuses on our relationship with nature, our power over it in areas such as genetic engineering and nano-agriculture.  How easy it seems to be for man to take for granted and ultimately destroy the delicate balance that is inherent in the natural world, all for our own purposes.

    Leaf Mutants in Pea, acrylic on canvas

    Her Remembering Water series stemmed from the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill, spawning an interest in aqueous plants and their usefulness and value in our ecosystem.  When oil spills occur, much is made of the impact on animal life, but the harm to plants and microorganisms that sustain them is rarely highlighted.

    Widgeon Grass, Remembering Water series, acylic on canvas
    Oculina, Remembering Water series, watercolor on Fabriano

    I love art for art’s sake and pretty pictures as much as the next girl.  But do you know what I love even more?  Beautiful artwork that tells an important story.  And that’s what Marsha Boston’s work does.  It is telling us the story of the destruction and misuse of the very resources that are here to not only sustain us but give us pleasure.  It would be a sad day if there were no more wildflowers to inspire artists like Boston to capture their beauty.

    Mountain Cranberry, watercolor and ink

    To see more of Marsha Boston’s work, please visit her website and Facebook page.

    Featured image is Indian Fig, watercolor and ink by Marsha Boston.  All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Elegant Embodiments: David Engdahl

    Elegant Embodiments: David Engdahl

    I have not tried to reproduce nature, I have represented it.

    — Paul Cezanne

    Never where these words more true than in the work of sculptor, David Engdahl.  The former architect has been shaping wood to create beautiful sculptures for over twenty years.  Inspired by the forms in the environment surrounding his home in north Florida, Engdahl takes his cue from organic shapes, simplifying or exaggerating them to create elegant embodiments of the natural world.

    Lamelliform 128

    Using plywood, a mechanically manipulated natural material to create these organically inspired sculptures creates a dynamic tension between the material and inspiration source.  By taking a normally lower level type of wood source and creating spledid sculptures, Engdahl is not only taking something “ugly” and making it beautiful, but also hearkening back to the wood’s original forms.

    Lamelliform #91
    Lamelliform #21

    The beauty in nature is all around us.  But we rarely notice it, much less ponder it.  Engdahl’s work may help us recall the glimpse of  antlers in the woods, the shadow of a sea turtle making its way across the surface of the deep or the swaying of thin branches in the breeze.

    Lamelliform #200

    He brings nature and artifice together in a way that reminds us that they can work together to reveal the best in each.

    To see more of David Engdahl’s work online, visit his website. Be sure to check out this wonderful video in which the artist explains his creative process and give you a glimpse inside his home studio.  If you’re in the North Florida area, stop by Studio 121 at 121 W. Forsyth Street in downtown Jacksonville, where he will be the featured artist, August through October.

    Featured image is Lamelliform #194.  All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.